Room at the top
by Claire O'Mack
Summary: Five deaths in one room spanning nearly a decade commited by what appears to be an invisible assaliant is far to intriguling for the UCOS team to pass up. how did these men die, and why? will they be able to solve this seemingly impossible case?
1. Chapter 1

Ok time for another case file, this one has been rolling around in my head for a while now and I finally started to put fingers to keyboard and get it down.

Let me warn you this is no light hearted romantic romp like my last two stories I am returning to my roots of action drama. I hope you enjoy this foray in to the macabre.

ROOM AT THE TOP

Jack walked in to the UCOS office with all his usual in exuberance. It wasn't that he didn't like his work on the contrary he loved it, but just recently things had been slow. That ever increasing pile of unsolved cases that sat on his desk seemed to be increasing at an alarming rate. He suspected that when they left the office at night the files were actually breeding all by themselves. Spotting Gerry already perched at his computer but not looking at it. Instead he was examining something very closely on his phone Jack walked over to him and bent down low. Gerry had obviously not heard his entrance into the office and was totally absorbed in whatever it was he was doing.

Jack was unable to resist the childish thoughts that were running though his mind as he barked his greeting to his younger colleague.

"Morning."

Gerry jumped almost clean off his chair, the phone leaping out of his hand to collide with the desk and drop off into the bin that sat next to it.

"Bloody hell Jack you trying to give me a heart attack?" Gerry snapped back digging around in the 't bin to retrieve his precious phone and Jack couldn't help the smile of success appear on his face as Brian entered the scene.

"What's Gerry lost this time." The northerner said scanning the people already present in the office and taking note of the scene as he removed his bicycle helmet.

"His dignity I think." Jack replied still smirking as Brian nodded back storing his bike against the wall as Gerry sat back upright avoiding the edge of the desk with his head as he waved his phone in the air.

"Got it!" he exclaimed as Sandra breezed in with her usual self carriage and air of importance which without her even trying demanded the attention of the others around her.

"Well Whatever it is I don't want it." She said as Gerry folded his arms and scowled at his boss as she moved to hang up her coat and placed her bag on her desk.

"What is this national pick on Gerry day." He asked as Sandra moved back into the centre of the room and eyed him with her usual unimpressed gaze.

"No I believe pick on a pensioner was last week." Jack said moving over to the kettle and switching it on.

"Pensioner, speak for yourself mate." Gerry replied indignantly while Sandra watched this display of one up man ship and tried to keep the small smile that wanted to appear on her face from fully emerging.

"I don't know Gerry you are eligible for a bus pass now." Brian said as though he were merely stating a fact not putting the final nail in Gerry's coffin. The next thing he knew a stapler had connected with his shoulder as he was starting up his laptop and he had been distracted.

"Ouch what the bloody hell was that for." He shouted picking up the offending object with the intention of throwing it right back where it had come from. The intrusion of Sandra stopped him as she stepped between them and held up her hands.

"Enough you lot, you can argue about who has the deepest wrinkles later right now we have a new case." She said moving over to her desk once more and picking up the file and moving back to the white board.

"Another case what about all of those?" Jack said referring to his breeding pile of cases as Sandra waved her hand at them and motioned for them to gather round.

"They can wait this one is top of our list for now." She said pinning up several photos of obviously dead men as the boys sat in their usual chairs.

"Can I ask why?" Jack said placing his steaming cup of tea to his mouth and taking a tenuous sip.

"Because the building where these deaths occurred is being condemned, it will be our last chance to look at the scene before it is turned into some new condos." Sandra replied as she stuck a picture of the building up on the board and it was Gerry who was the first to speak.

"The old Grand Hotel, their finally pulling it down." He said as Brian lent forward obviously having cottoned on to what was going on and Sandra could feel the impending explanation coming.

"The Grand Hotel, five deaths spanning nearly a decade, from 1987 to 1996, all men in their thirties, all staying overnight on business and all in the penthouse suite at the top. From what I remember they couldn't even pin point cause of death for these guys, so do we even have a case?" Brian said as Gerry and Jack skimmed though the notes Sandra handed them and she returned to the white board.

"Five deaths in one room, you have to admit that is pretty fishy." She replied as the boys nodded engrossed in what the files had to say, the only one looking at her was Brian and he had a faraway look in his eyes that told Sandra the man was pondering this one, and probably really enjoying it.

"Fishy is the right word, from the looks of it all the hotel staff were questioned, each time, no correlation, including the owner and nothing came up, there was just no motive, not for all of them anyway." Gerry said finally closing his file and regarding Sandra hoping she had at least some answers for them.

"I know and that is why each of the investigations ran dry. The families all had rock solid alibies and no one at the hotel even knew these men, the reason for their deaths remains a mystery, as well as the cause although I have got someone looking into that for us." She said moving to the first photo and pointing at it.

"Steven Bradshaw. 33 years old, wife no children, worked for the royal bank of Scotland and was on a business trip where he was booked into the penthouse suite at The Grand on September 3rd 1987. The first of our victims, he wasn't discovered until the following morning at eleven o'clock when the maid came in thinking he had left for the day and discovered the body. Time of death however was placed around six am. No one was seen leaving or entering the elevator that went to that floor all morning and there is only one way in or out of that hotel room." She continued pointing to a layout design of the hotel.

"Later on in 1996 when the final murder occurred the hotel had CCTV on that floor and it recorded nothing. No one in our out all night including Roger Brown our final victim. Also found by the hotel maid at ten in the morning. Time of death was placed at six thirty."

"So our killer is not only clever but is also the invisible man great." Gerry said sitting back in his chair as Jack spoke up for the first time.

"Time of death also seems like a current theme running though this investigation, how long was it until they put all these murders together?" he asked noting that all the men were killed within an hour of one another. From six am to seven am, no one realising until the maid came round later on that day.

"They never did, the murders were so far apart that each investigation was done by a new team. Two of the cases were not even considered murders until recently when they got the case file together for us to re-examine." Sandra said as Jack shook his head and rubbed his hands down his face.

"Five deaths in the same room and no one thinks they could be connected, no wonder we have so many files to look though." His obvious irritation showing in his voice as Brian stood up clasping his hands together.

"So when do we get to take a look at this room?" he asked and Sandra could see the light in his eyes. This case was right up Brian's ally. Intrigue and seemingly impossible were his speciality and Sandra smiled back at him.

"How about right now. We only have a week before it comes down whatever so I suggest we get a dam good look at the place. I have a feeling whatever happened to these guys is in that room." She said taking a quick look back over her shoulder at the overhead shot of the hotel as the boys moved around gathering up their coats.

"Probably, but if five investigation teams couldn't find anything, what makes you think we will?" Gerry said as they made their way down the hall and Sandra pushed open the door to the car park and she wrapped her coat more tightly around her to fend of the cold.

"Because we have him." Sandra said pointing to Brian who had his nose buried in the case file and was totally obvious to their looks.

"That and we now know these deaths are related somehow, might give us a new perspective on motive." Jack said opening the passenger door to Sandra's car as they all climbed in. closing the doors quickly as Sandra turned on the engine switching on the heating immediately and praying that the car would warm up soon she turned to look over her shoulder at the two men in the back seat.

"You two buckled in, wouldn't want you losing your dentures if I have to break suddenly." She smiled turning back around before they could come up with some not so witty retort as she pulled out of the car park and onto the busy London roads.

Brain sat in the back muttering to himself as he re-read the case file and finally put it down as they neared their destination.

"Investigating the room at the top murders how exciting." He said to no one in particular as Sandra pulled the car into the car park and switched off the engine.

Well there you have it an new case four our intrepid quartet, I just hope I can do them justice once again. As ever please let me know what you thought, if I should continue or bin it?

Ps I will be delivering some Sandra/Gerry but later on so if you don't like that please don't read it then send me flames for it.

Thank you for reading XxX


	2. Chapter 2

I am back with chapter two. Thank you for the reviews they are much appreciated and I hope I can peak more interest as this story continues.

Please enjoy.

Gerry looked at the out dated building, with its crumbling brick work and wooden weather beaten window frames. It amazed him this piece of history had survived this long without being turned into some kind of health spar. Now it seemed as he watched as everyone else climbed out of the car alongside him that time and money had finally caught up with the hotel. It was coming down to make room for condos and Gerry couldn't help but feel nostalgic even though he had never been to this particular hotel before.

"Come on I think the developer is waiting for us inside." Sandra said pulling Gerry out of his reprieve and back in to the present. This was no ordinary hotel, it had been the location for the death of five men, and Gerry couldn't help the slight shiver than ran down his spine as they crossed the threshold.

"Wow they haven't done much yet have they?" Brian observed as they stepped into the foyer and a man with sandy blonde hair and a quick smile approached them. Sandra cast a quick glance in Brian's directions telling him with a single look to shut up for a moment while she dealt with the man approaching them. Her ID was out and on display before he had even gotten out his first words and Gerry quickly realised why.

"Finally I have been waiting all morning for you lot, do you have any idea how much this delay is costing us Miss whatever your name is." He said seemingly unaware of who he was talking to and Gerry got the impression that he didn't give a shit either.

"Super intendant Pullman." Sandra filled him in using her clipped no nonsense voice and Gerry was just pleased that he was not on the receiving end of it for once.

"I suppose the lives of five men don't fit in to your profit margins however I don't really care about that. We are here to see if we can solve these murders once and for all, and as far as I can tell you have no choice but to let us." Sandra continued as the man backed down from his position almost looking over Sandra's head and moved to the side. Holding out his arm and pointing towards a lift in the corner of the lobby.

"I guess I don't super intendant." He said as Sandra walked passed him with a small nod of acknowledgment. The boys followed along behind her all feeling for the now red faced developer, all knowing that feeling when it came to their Guvnor.

Brian looked around at the lobby area with interest, he wondered if this had been how it had looked when the hotel was open.

"Have they changed much since the times of the murders?" he asked the developer as they waited for the lift to reach the lobby and the man shook his head quickly.

"No, this place hasn't changed in twenty years, that's probably why they are tearing it down. The guests were sick of not getting Pay Per View." He said as the lift door opened and Gerry let out a small chuckle.

"Now that I can understand." He said knowing it would earn him a distasteful look from Sandra but what else was new, he had learnt to live with it. Moving on to the lift Gerry had to squeeze in next to Jack and the man was looking far from happy about the experience, but his annoyance paled in compassion with Sandra's as Brian shuffled around managing to connect with her toe as he made room for the five of them as the lift started to ascend.

"Christ Brian." She exclaimed but unable to bend down and rub her smarting foot she settled for glaring at the back of the northerners head as he spoke with the developer.

"So am I right in saying that they closed off the penthouse suit after the final death in 96 and it has remained untouched since?" He questioned as the lift stopped and let them out in to a hallway and all of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Pretty much the penthouse suite got a bit of a reputation after that, it even made a couple of those tour guide books you know Britain's most haunted, and such like. I don't think anyone would have stayed in that room, even if they had kept it open." The man replied as he led them down the hall and towards another lift.

"You're telling me the hotel let people think a Ghost had killed those men, wouldn't that have harmed their business?" Gerry said as they stopped in front of the lift and the developer backed away slightly.

"Not at all in fact some people came here to see that room. It was said that the men died of fright. That they saw something so horrible upon waking in the morning that their hears just gave out in fear." Brian was almost salivating at the prospect of seeing the room now but Gerry was although irrationally far less exuberant about the idea of going up there.

"Aren't you coming?" Gerry asked as the man backed away as the lift to the penthouse suit arrived and dinged its arrival.

"I think you can find your way from here. Plus that room just gives me the creeps, I for one will be glad when it is nothing more than a pile of ashes." With that he turned and left the UCOS team alone all stood outside the lift all but one.

"Come on, let's get up there and check it out." Brain said practically dancing from foot to foot inside the lift as Sandra stepped aboard first.

"Fine, but this isn't an episode of most haunted Brian, don't expect Yvette Fielding to be waiting for us at the top of the stairs. Or anything to be lurking in the wardrobe." Sandra said as they all entered the lift and she pushed the button for the top floor.

"All the same has anyone got the number for Ghostbusters?" Gerry inquired only half joking as the lift gave a quick lurch before continuing on its journey upwards. Gerry suspected his was not the only heart to have fallen into his boots at that one.

The lift made it to the top floor without further incident and they all climbed off, there was only one door on this floor although the hallway continued for almost twenty meters in each direction. It gave a small indication of just how big the suite was.

"This is kind of large for a business man on an overnight stay." Jack piped up for the first time, noticing the first oddity in their location. His eyes swept the hallway and noticed the bracket where the CCTV camera had once sat and he noticed that there would have been no way for anyone exiting the lift to avoid it.

"I thought that to. It was expensive as well, and none of these men were executives, or company directors. What this kind of room is reserved for, it suggests planning to me." Sandra said placing her hand over the door knob and twisting it slightly so the door squeaked open allowing a small cloud of dust to filter though the ever increasing gap.

"Bloody hell it's like a hermetically sealed tomb in here." She said waving her hand around to stop the dust from covering her face as she coughed slightly before the room came into full view.

"Finger print dust I guess." Jack said following the blonde into the room and running his finger along the vanity unit and collecting some of the settling dust upon it.

"You men to tell me no one has been in here for over ten years. No way not when bob the builder was telling us about what a money spinner this room was for the hotel." Gerry said moving cautiously to the window that over looked the buildings on the opposite side of the street and out towards the London skyline.

"Looks that way, but I think we should operate under the guise that people have been in here and this room would still have been accessible to staff and other guests long after the last investigation." Sandra voiced as she moved towards the bed and looked at the rumpled sheets and saw nothing that was not in the crime scene photos.

"This is amazing to think all these years and no one has dared come up here to see what was really going on. To worried about superstition and goblins to spend the night, what I wouldn't give." Brian said as he walked into the bathroom coming back out almost immediately finding nothing of interest inside and re-joining the others.

"Don't you even think about it. Now look around for any evidence, something the previous team might have missed." Sandra said giving Brian another warning look as he placed his hands in his pockets and shuffled about.

"Sorry Gov, but what exactly is it that we are looking for? A note on how and why from the killer, some kind of secret trap door to tell us how they got in here?" Gerry said looking under the table lamp and unsurprisingly finding nothing.

"Don't be facetious Gerry it doesn't suit you. No we need to look at this room with a fresh set of eyes. Forgetting all about dying of fear and things that go bump in the night." Sandra looked at Brian again as if to make her point but he was ignoring her as he looked at a picture on the wall.

"Fair enough Sandra, but what if we don't find anything?" Jack said as he moved across the room to stop in front of the wardrobe and paused before opening it.

"Then I guess we hope that the pathologist has come up with a cause of death so we will have something to go on." She replied as Jack pulled open the wardrobe to be greeted with exactly what he expected to find. Nothing.

The developer had been right about one thing the room was creepy. Gerry put it down to the fact that five men had died in the room, but it was more than that, he had been in rooms where the dead body in question was still there and he had never felt this unsettled before. No the room had a feel about it, one that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up and kept his senses on over drive. As Jack pulled open the wardrobe door he watched as Sandra flinched slightly. Something no one else noticed and Gerry was certain that if he had not been watching her so closely, he would not have seen it either. The blonde Super intendant ice water in her veins, not scared of anyone or anything had just had a wobble and Gerry was glad. It meant she was human after all and he held off the smile threatening to break out on his face. Moving himself over to the bedside table he looked at the things on it. A lamp, the room phone, a glass that now only held a cobweb, but at one point Gerry thought it may have been Scotch and the alarm clock. Reaching out he opened the draw and found a Glidden's bible inside. Smiling to himself he reached in and pulled it out.

"Wow now there's a shocker, I wonder if one of e'm snuck back in here to see if it had been read and took exception to it still sitting in the drawer." Gerry said as Sandra looked at him from the opposite bedside table and scowled.

"Unlikely Gerry, but if you wanted to interview all the members make sure you do it on your own time." She replied a small smile now gracing her features and Gerry placed the bible back in the drawer and shook his head.

"I think I will pass on that one if it's all the same to you." Now moving over to where Jack was checking out the vanity unit having found nothing much like the rest of the room. Brain was still checking out the wall art and had come up empty handed. For now it seemed like whatever secrets the room on the top floor of the Grand Hotel held it was keeping them to its self.

Half an hour later they were all stood in the lobby none the wiser on what had happened to all those men. Gerry was just glad to be out of that room for now, although he could see its appeal to a certain type of person. Including Brian who was his own unique kind if crazy and was already going on about more research.

"When we get back I am going to get on the net and find out what people have said about that room, I know most of it will be hearsay but you can never count out the fanatics. They have a way of finding out the truth, even if no one believes them." He said as they all made their way back to Sandra's car.

"We know we have worked with you long enough." Jack said as he opened the passenger door and climbed in next to a smiling Sandra as they pulled away from The Grand.

"Ok Jack and Brian go back and find out about that hotel and whatever you can about the five men who died. Why they stayed there, who booked the room ect. Gerry and I will go and see what Dr Jackson has for us on the pathology reports. Hopefully she can give us something so we can move this forward." Gerry thought about that room once more and he couldn't shale the feeling that they were missing something. If no one had found a connection between the men previously and their only connection had been the place where they died it stood to reason that that was also the reason for their deaths. But how could a hotel room be responsible for the demise of five seemingly normal businessmen? Gerry sat back in his seat and watched the world fly passed his window, he hoped Sandra was right and the pathologist did have something for them or they would be right back at square one. Five dead men and one very spooky room.

There is chapter two. Reviews make me happy and encourage me to update so if you would like to see what happened next let me know and I will do my best to update asap. Also if you have any suggestions I am happy to listen I am always looking for ways to improve. Thank you for reading XxX


	3. Chapter 3

Greetings fellow readers, here is another update for you to consider, now I know this is pretty slow going so far, but stick with it there will be some pretty good stuff coming soon. I hope.

They had dropped Jack and Brian off at the office and Gerry had climbed into the front seat. Sandra had barely stopped the car to allow the boys to get out before she was off again and headed for the pathology lab as few short minutes down the road. She would never have said anything to the boys but she had a feeling that they were not going to solve this one. At least not in the time frame they had. One week was all they really had, as soon as that hotel was demolished she was sure so would be any chance of solving this case.

Not speaking to Gerry for the entire journey and for once not being bugged by him either Sandra sat in quiet contemplation while she watched everyone else go about their daily business. She wondered what would happen to society of they all knew what really went on in the world. Of how close they all came to being that next victim lying in the bed, cause of death unknown. It was then that she realised what was bothering her so much about this case. That it was so random, that not one of the victims linked up to any other and if they had been found in five different locations there would never have been a case.

Stopping the car on that scary thought Sandra switched off the engine and turned to Gerry. He was watching her whilst he undid his seat belt and he gave her a weak smile.

"I don't want to hear any talk of ghosts and goblins when we get in there." She said handing Gerry her bag as she climbed out of the car and fumbled around with the keys for a moment before locking it.

"Don't worry I have no intention of looking like a crazy man." He said passing Sandra her bag back and she flashed him a small smile.

"No more than usual anyway." She replied with a grin that made Gerry smile as they headed off towards the office where Dr Jackson was due to meet them.

It was like many morgues dark and quiet and had a creepy air about it that Sandra never really become accustomed to. Not that light and noisy would have been appropriate for a morgue, but it wasn't like any of the patients would be complaining so why did they have to be so dark and quiet. The thought rolled around Sandra's head as she waited with Gerry in a small reception room. The chairs were predictably hard and uncomfortable and the nurse at the station was elderly and as quiet as the people currently residing in her refrigeration units. Gerry was browsing through a well-thumbed magazine as Dr Jackson walked in through the door, Sandra was amazed at the speed with which Gerry stood up, brushed himself off and presented his hand to the tall dark haired trim woman in her early fifties.

"D.S.I Pullman?" she enquired towards Gerry as Sandra just watched this display of machismo with a certain interest that she would never admit to out loud.

"Umm no, I am Gerry Standing, this is my Govner." He said shaking Dr Jackson's hand for a moment longer than necessary as he finally turned to Sandra as though he had forgotten she had been in the room at all.

"Sandra, please." Sandra said holding out her own hand to shake the Dr's as she moved forward not paying any attention to Gerry's obvious attempt to stand in between the two women and they shook hands.

"Pleased to meet you and it's Dawn, all those years at school to be called Dr and now I hate it. Ironic don't you think?" she asked as Sandra merely nodded and followed as Dawn pushed through the double doors at the end of the waiting room and revealed the rooms behind. Sandra checked back over her shoulder to see if Gerry was following as an almost after thought. He was right there though, just like she knew he would be as Dawn walked then to her office which was surprisingly cluttered.

"Excuse the mess but I have been looking through a lot of files concerning your five dead men." She said offering them the chairs opposite her on the other side of her desk as she sat down and pulled out one of the files.

"Dead men, so you don't think they were murdered?" Sandra enquired thinking it was time to get down to business and it seemed as though Dr Jackson agreed.

"On that one I cannot be one hundred percent sure. You see without an actual body to examine it is hard to say for certain what thy died from." Dawn continued as Gerry shuffled around in his chair slightly as Sandra looked at him and wondered what was wrong.

"I thought the recoded cause of death was heart failure?" Sandra said as Gerry finally still and gave his boss a quick nod.

"That's not always the cause of death, it is something we use when we cannot find anything else wrong with the victim. There could well be another reason for the victims heart to simply stop beating. Very few men in their thirties simply have a heart attack and die without some form of assistance or underlying genetic weakness in that area." Dawn continued as she pulled out a file presumably on one of their victims and Sandra listened with interest.

"I have reviewed each case by itself, and then as a group, I have come up with a few possibilities for these men's deaths, although I have to warn you it is all speculation." Right now Sandra knew that speculation was the least of their worries when it came to this case and she urged the Dr to continue.

"Looking at all these men and their previous medical reports it seems almost impossible that they all could have dropped dead from a heart attack. However suffocation is a possibility, done slowly enough while someone is asleep would not cause too much bruising. Also it could explain the lack of petechial haemorrhaging in the eyes."

"What is that?" Gerry enquired speaking up for the first time as Dr Jackson smiled back at him.

"It is where the blood vessels in the eyes burst due to lack of oxygen, often found in someone who has been suffocated because of the sudden and harsh nature of it. But if your victims were asleep, they may not have realised until it was too late." Sandra nodded, at least it was a step in the right direction, however much of a leap it might be.

"You said several, what else could they have died from?" Sandra asked as Dawn placed down her file and laid her pen next to it as well.

"There is always poison, none of our victims had a full tox screen performed because their death was eventually ruled as natural causes. Any number of poison's that we don't usually screen for could have been used. Slow acting and leave no outward signs on the body afterwards." Now this had promise and Gerry obviously saw it to as he sat forward.

"Helps us with the invisible man theory, if he poisoned them before they went to the room, then he wouldn't have had to go up there and finish the job. No prints, not CCTV jobs done." He said and Sandra had to agree with him, but there was no way now they could prove the theory.

"Could you get us a list of the poisons that could have been used, you know so we can run a check to see if anyone purchased them around the times of the murders?" Sandra asked and Dr Jackson nodded quickly.

"No problem, but it may be quite a long list. I do have one more theory, and although unlikely it may also explain your lack of a suspect in the room." She continued, Sandra was more than happy with the outcome so far, it certainly had possibilities and depending on what the other two found out could lead them to the killer.

"Electrocution. Now I know from the photos the body showed no sign of it, however if the charge was introduced at an extremity, such as the fingers or toes there would be little and almost no damage to the body itself. How they would do such a thing falls more in your line of expertise than mine however." Dawn finished and Sandra felt like the woman had told them all she knew.

"Thank you Dawn, we will look into it." Sandra said standing up and shaking the pathologists hand as Gerry did the same.

"Oh Sandra, if you manage to work out exactly what happened to these men, I would love to hear about it." Dawn said as they made to leave her office. Sandra turned back and smiled down at the woman still seated at her desk.

"No problem, you have been very helpful." She replied as Gerry opened the door for her and they made their way out of the building with more speed than was strictly required. Getting into the car Sandra started the engine and Gerry buckled in beside her.

"You know I don't think I will ever get used to those places." He said as Sandra pulled away and headed back for the UCOS office. She turned to him briefly and nodded slightly, she knew what he meant but she wasn't going to tell him she was thinking the exact same thing.

"At least now we might have something to go on, if we can find someone in that hotel that purchased one of the poisons Dr Jackson comes up with we will have a killer if not a motive." Sandra said making the final turn towards the police building as Gerry looked out of the window before replying.

"You know I have been thinking about that, the motive may be something as simple as money. That these men were killed because someone was paying their killer to do it." Gerry said finally as Sandra stopped the car and switched off the engine.

"You know sometimes Gerry I remember why I keep you around." She said with a small grin as they both got out of the car. Moving towards the external door Gerry pulled it open and ushered Sandra inside out of the cold wind that had picked up once more and closed the door quickly behind them.

"Oh and if you want me to inform Dawn of our progress when the time comes I am happy to volunteer." He said trying the puppy dog eyes on her which quickly fell silent as she stopped and looked at him.

"Then you say something like that and I wonder why I don't fire you." She half grinned half snapped as they pushed the doors open to the office to find D.A.C Strickland sat in one of the chairs and Sandra wondered how she could get rid of him as quickly as possible without getting herself demoted in the process.

"Sir how nice to see you what can I do for you?" Sandra enquired as Strickland stood up to greet the returning pair while Brian and Jack remained in their seats. Sandra caught a glance of Gerry as he snuck off towards his desk and she vowed to get him back for that one later but right now she had to deal with Strickland.

"Nothing really I was just wondering how the case was going." He said but Sandra could feel something was coming, something she probably wasn't going to like.

"We have made some progress on what might be our cause of death. We have reason to believe poisoning could be involved and that maybe the person who carried out these murders was a killer for higher. We will have to check out the families, work colleagues again to this end." Sandra said as Strickland just stood there arms folded and nodded his head slightly.

"Good, well we are all keen to see if you can figure this one out, but there is something else." Here it is, Sandra thought as she placed her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels.

"What's that sir?" she said as waiting for him to continue was starting to irritate her and she just wanted him to get on with it at this point.

"We are getting pressure from the developers, they are losing a lot of time and money, and for a case we are not even sure is a case yet. The deputy commissioner has agreed that The Grand hotel will be coming down Friday, whether you have completed your investigation or not." Strickland finished and Sandra pulled her hands from her pockets and clapped them together.

"Great three days, three days to solve a case that has been sitting gathering dust for twenty years. Sometimes I do wonder who we are really working for sir. The public or anyone with enough money to influence who is running this country." Sandra was angry and not for the first time that money had once again gotten in the way of them finding justice and she had just taken it out on her boss. Before she could stutter an apology though Strickland took a deep breath.

"We all have to answer to the binds of budget sometimes, it's sad but for now that's just the way it has to be." With that the D.A.C left them alone to try and come up with an answer before their time ran out.

Hope you are enjoying this please let me know reviews make me happy. Thank you for reading XxX


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